Patent EP-0772140-A1 (EP)
Inventor: VAN ROMPAEY KARL
IPC: G06F9/44
Filed: 1996-10-03
Abstract: A design environment and a design method for implementing a heterogeneous essentially digital system is disclosed. The design environment comprises: 
     a database compiled on a computer, adapted for access by executable programs on said computer for generating the implementation of said heterogeneous essentially digital system, comprising a plurality of objects representing aspects of said digital system wherein said objects comprise primitive objects representing the specification of said digital system and hierarchical objects being created by said executable programs while generating the implementation of said digital system, said hierarchical objects being refinements of said primitive objects and having more detail and preserving any one or all of said aspects to thereby generate said implementation of said digital system; and further comprising relations inbetween said primitive objects and inbetween said hierarchical objects and between said primitive objects and said hierarchical objects; and further comprising functions for manipulating said objects and said relations; means for specifying said heterogeneous digital system comprising a plurality of behavioral and structural languages; means for simulating said heterogeneous digital system comprising a plurality of simulators for said behavioral and structural languages; means for implementing said heterogeneous digital system comprising a plurality of compilers for said behavioral and structural languages; means for allocating hardware components for an implementation of said heterogeneous digital system; means for assigning hardware subsystems and software subsystems of said heterogeneous digital system to said hardware components; means for implementing the communication between said software subsystems and said hardware subsystems, one of the aspects of said communication being represented by ports; means for encapsulating said simulators, said compilers, said hardware components, said hardware subsystems and said software subsystems whereby creating a consistent communication between said encapsulated simulators, compilers, hardware components, hardware subsystems and software subsystems. 
     Furthermore, a method is disclosed for making an implementation of an heterogeneous essentially digital system, comprising the steps of: defining a first set of primitive objects representing the specification of said digital system, comprising the steps of: describing the specification of said system in a plurality of processes, each process representing a functional aspect of said system, said processes being primitive objects; defining ports and connecting said ports with channels, said ports structuring the communication between said processes, said ports and said channels being primitive objects, one proces s having one or more ports; defining the communication semantics of said ports by a protocol, said protocol being a primitive object; and thereafter creating hierarchical objects being refinements of said primitive objects and having more detail, while preserving aspects of said communication semantics.